Silver Beetle (RECONTINUED)
by Sparrow-Talon
Summary: AU. Starla Reyes was a ordinary student at Rio Grande until she was taken by the Lights new partner and given the Silver Scarab... Will she be on mode or will the Scarab malfunction like Khaji Da?... What will she do?... How will she cope?... Read to Find Out
1. Starla Discription

Name: Starla Nora Reyes (Used to be Nora "Starla" Night)

Age: 14 years

Gender: Female

Species: Human

Looks-

Hair Color: Night black with mid-back length hair and Silver highlights (tied in a ponytail at school)

Eye Color: Storm silver with thunderstorm blue specks

Skin Tone: light brown with pallid freckles

Other: XXX

Usual Clothing-

(School) Shirt: Purple t-shirt with grey horse (M), Grey t-shirt (T), black and blue school appropriate tank-top(W), blue t-shirt with grey dragon(TH), dark gold school appropriate tank-top with silver dragon(F)

(No School) Shirt: black tank-top(M), green t-shirt(T), blue long-sleeve(W), blue short-sleeve(TH), silver and blue tank-top(F), dark silver Pajamas(SAT), grey PJs(SUN)

(School) Pants: blue jeans (M), black jeans (T), black skinny-jeans(W), blue jeans(TH), red jeans(F)

(No School) Pants: grey shorts (M), green shorts (T), blue shorts(W), black shorts(TH), dark green shorts (F)

(School)Shoes: imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F% %2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F12% &imgrefurl=https%3A%2F% %2F2017%2F01%2F01%2Fmost-anticipated-shoes-of-2017%2F&docid=C5jI4OjLZQZPtM&tbnid=j3zPs-RHQV_k1M%3A&vet=10ahUKEwin4N7gm_nYAhVR0lMKHTyYA54QMwigAygpMCk..i&w=940&h=550&bih=617&biw=1280&q=snicker%20shoes&ved=0ahUKEwin4N7gm_nYAhVR0lMKHTyYA54QMwigAygpMCk&iact=mrc&uact=8

(NoSchool)Shoes:https url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiB0ZKjm_nYAhUJ0FMKHZh3AoUQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F% .com%2Fproducts%2Fold-west-black-mens-all-leather-stitch-narrow-round-toe-13in-cowboy-boots&psig=AOvVaw21eJK0uDBap5lfqlAmM6e-&ust=1517179197320758

Other: always wears  product/sterling-silver-scarab-beetle-pendant-necklace-from-mexico-lucky-scarab/301319/ under her shirt

School: Rio Grande High

Family-

Mother: Riva Night; Bianca Ruby Reyes

Father: Caleb Night; Rubert Edgar Reyes

Sibling(s): Nathan Night(15), Carah Night(17) and Aditya (14 twin); Jaime Keith Reyes and Milagro Katie Reyes

Other: Had 2 pet cats named Carnada (Silver tabby she-cat with ice blue eyes) and Soulsist (Black muscular Dragon Li tom with gold eyes) before they disappeared; Starla was adopted by the Reyes' when her family died in a forest fire

Friends-

Boy(s): None

Girl(s): None

Personality: Dangerous (need be), Trusting, Deep, Adventurous, Kind, Loyal, Honest, Lively, Trustworthy,

Other: Starla doesn't know who Blue Beetle is or why her adopted family is being secretive around her. Starla got her necklace from her mother when she turned 6 years old. She lost her biological family in a forest fire causing her to shut down.


	2. Prologue (By Sage Nicholson)

Prologue (By Sage Nicholson)

 _ **The Title of this Prologue states it all... Sage Nicholson did the prologue and I want EVERYONE to thank her!**_

 _ **Thanks Again Sage Nicholson for your help**_

"And in news relating to the Chimazi National Park Forest Fire, a family is being hailed as heroes for saving a campsite of civilians from the flames, although tragically perishing themselves . Riva and and Caleb Night, local firefighters, were vacationing in the park when the fire, which before then had been kept relatively small and isolated was spurned out of control by lightening from a thunder-storm. The Night family used their skills to clear a path, which the campers used to escape, before tragically succumbing to smoke inhalation, along with their children Nathan, Cara and Anita. They are survived by their youngest daughter, Nora. We now cut to eyewitness-"  
"{ _Por favor_ }, turn down the TV! I'm trying to work here!" Jaime muttered as he bent over his ridiculously large pile of homework.  
"But I wanna watch! It's not my fault you were too busy super-heroing last night to study!" Milagro complained from across the kitchen table. She grabbed the remote and turned the volume up again.  
"There we were, trapped between the walls of smoke, when-" -click-. Jaime smirked, tossing the remote in his left hand.  
"Hey! Give that back!" Milagro grabbed at the remote, but her brother had the advantage of height. He held it just inches above her, still writing down answers with his other hand.  
"I already finished my homework! I should get to watch TV!" She clutched Jaime's wrist with speed and strength of a very small, very determined boa constrictor.  
"You're eight! Un bebe! Your homework is a coloring book! Now let go of my hand!"  
"Not true! I learned long division today! I bet you can't even spell long division!"  
[ **In this situation, the sonic cannon will cause maximum damage while still living the Milagro intact** ] (Scarab's talking when in bold)  
"Basta!" (Enough!) Their mom yelled from her office next door. "Milagro, go watch TV in the living room! Jaime, give your sister the remote back! Ahora!" Instantly the siblings complied. They knew better than to mess with Bianca Reyes.  
Milagros stuck her tongue out at Jaime as she left. He returned the favor before diving back into the joys of Ancient and Medieval History.  
The phone rang next door. "This is Doctor Reyes (in the comics Jaime's mother works at a free care clinic. I'm pretty sure she's a doctor.), can I help you? El Paso Children's Shelter? Yes, yes, I am Bianca. My foster child? Que?! Oh yes Ms. Lobachevsky, I did sign up for foster care."  
Jaime stopped writing mid-sentence. When did his family volunteer for foster care? Oh yea, three months ago. Before he got the Scarab. And before his life became a real-life circus.  
"Lo siento, things have just been a little... hectic lately. Who's the child? A Nora Night? 14 years old?"  
"That's the girl from the news." Milagros said, who had snuck in to eavesdrop. Jaime shushed her.  
"Yes, my son is also in high school. What if- what if we can't take her in? An orphanage. Lost her whole family? Por cosa. (poor thing). Can I get back to you later? Thank you, have a nice day too."  
Bianca walked out of the room, looking frazzled. She sat down at the table and put her head between her hands.  
"I assume you two heard everything."  
[Inviting a stranger into our place of residence is not wise. Our identity as the Blue Beetle could be compromised.  
"Mom, we can't have a stranger here! What about my..." I glanced around nervously, despite the fact that there was no one around to overhear. "My you-know-what."  
"I know mijo, but we took on a responsibility, and we can't just abandon her. She'll have to spend months in an orphanage, and you know not all foster families are as nice as us. (when you foster a kid, the state government pays you money to support him/her, so sometimes people who don't really care about the kid volunteer just for the checks. Sad, but true.)  
"I don't want to, but if she stays here she'll discover my secret!"  
"I'm sure you can keep it from her. After all, you kept it from us for two months." Jaime felt a flash of guilt at this subtle scolding. (In Young Justice, its Nightwing that tells the Reyeses what their sons new extracurricular is, because no one can be on the team without parental permission. Something tells me Bianca would be pissed.)  
"Yea, but do you think { _Milagro_ } could keep her mouth shut?"  
"Hey!"  
"Jaime, this girl has just lost her entire family. She's alone and scared and needs our support. Can you imagine how she'd feel if she thought she was going to live with us but at the last minute was told we didn't want her?"  
"Fiiiiine. I'm okay with her coming."  
"I can't wait to have a big sister! Big brothers suck." Milagros agreed chipperly, earning her a playful swat.  
"And I'm sure that when your father gets home in a couple of hours he'll say the same thing." And even if he didn't, it wouldn't take long for Bianca to convince him. It was pretty obvious who wore the pants the Reyes household.  
"Hello, Ms. Lobachevsky? We've had a family meeting and yes, we can still take her in. On Sunday? Great. Thank you so much for your patience."  
[ **You are a fool Jaime Reyes.** ]  
"Yea, yea, I know."


	3. Chapter One: Orphanage and Fostering

_AN: Sage Nicholson came up with ideas for this chapter and so the bolded parts are her ideas. Also I am sorry for the short dinner scene._

Chapter One

-El Paso Center for Children-

Nora Night was packing up her things, which was very little, after the orphanage owner, Ms. Lobachevsky, told her that the Reyeses had agreed to adopt her. At first, she was excited but that had soon dissipated when her brain had caught up with her emotions. Fostered, she was being FOSTERED by complete _Strangers_! **Nora fingered a silver beetle pendant she wore. It had been a gift from her mother on her 6th birthday, and she hadn't taken it off since. She held it to her chest with a wistful sigh.** Nora's eyes closed as she sat on the slightly lumpy bed. She hadn't realized she had drifted off until Omero Zanobi, a skinny 12-year-old with a slightly crooked nose, jumped on her bed and bounced slightly.

"La cena è pronta! (Dinner is ready!)" Omero yelled happily in Italian.

 **Nora didn't understand a word Omero said, but he wasn't paying attention.** The 12-year-old skipped away in excitement as Nora pushed herself in a sitting position before standing up. The last member in the Night family hid her silver necklace under her shirt as she walked out of the room, the smell of mashed potatoes and sausage made its way into her nose and caused her mouth to water. Nora quickly made her way to the table and sat down in-between Omero and a bulky, smelly boy everyone else talked excitedly with each other, Nora ate silently. No one noticed, well mostly no one, Omero looked at Nora and frowned when he noticed Nora wasn't talking.

Omero tapped Nora to get the 14-year-old's attention causing her to tilt her head in confusion, the twelve-year-old began to yammer on as Nora watched him confused. Once dinner finished Nora helped clean up the table as the other kids got ready for bed, Ms. Lobachevsky let out a soft sigh as she watched the 14-year-old girl help out and smiled softly, the middle aged woman walked over to her office and came back out with a grape flavored jolly rancher. She walked over to the hardworking, quiet girl and handed her the rancher. Nora smiled in thanks and continued to clean/wipe the table until it was cleaned and left to go to bed.

-Sunday-

-Reyes Residence-

 **It was morning** as the Reyes's got ready to go to the El Paso Center for Children to pick Nora up and bring her to live with them. Jaime shifted nervously as he waited for his parents and sister to finish getting ready.

 **{ _We could put a tracker on her if you are so worried_ }**  
 **The 16-year-old perked at this, "that was the best idea you had so far!"**  
 **{ _Yes, and if she gets too close too the truth, it will detonate_ }**  
 **Jaime glared "Absolutely not!"**  
 **"Uh, Jaime" Milagro cut the boy off with a confused look, "It's time to go.**

Jaime nodded and the Reyes's piled into the car, they drove for 34 minutes and 10 seconds until they parked in the driveway and filed out. **Standing outside to meet them was a young girl (it was safe to assume she was Nora) and an older women with hair that looked some gray animal was sleeping on her head. Milagro immediately dashed over to her.**

 **"Hi, my name's Milagro and I'm your new sister wow I really like your hair I always wanted silver highlights but _Mom_ wouldn't let me get them. Oh this is my brother Jaime. You can just ignore him." Jaime nodded hello as his sister resumed talking breathlessly and Nora resumed staring speechlessly. **  
**Bianca and Roberto walked over from where they'd been talking with Ms. Lobachevsky, the caretaker.**  
 **Bianca shook Nora's hand. "Hi there. It's Nora, right? Or would you prefer if we called you Starla?" She smiled encouragingly.**  
 **"Starla? Where'd you get a name like Starla?" Nora blushed. The truth was, when she was little she'd decided her name wasn't interesting enough, so she'd demanded her family refer to her by her "cool new name" Starla. Much to her regret, the name stuck.**  
 **The Reyes's took her silence to mean 'yes'.**

 ** _: Time Skip- 10:00 pm:_**

Dinner with the Reyes family made Nora really smile for the first time in along time because Milagro acted as Green Lantern when he tried to make a fist with his ring but got a horse instead and **Jaime made amusing (at least he thought they were amusing) comments**. The two biological siblings had agreed to make their new sibling smile and laugh whenever they could when they saw how shy she was. The two looked at each other triumphantly when they saw her small smile.

After dinner, they showed Nora her new room and helped her unpack, their parents watched the unpacked and talked (well Jaime and Milagro talked while Nora listened stiffly, but she slowly un-stiffened).

"You were right" Roberto stated looking at his wife, "this is good for them all."

"Of-course I'm right" Bianca smiled and leaned into her husband.

The two returned to watching their children (new and old) interact as they hugged each other. No one noticed the muscular black Dragon Li cat watching through the window with a small smile.


	4. Chapter 2: Nightmare and Comfort

Chapter Two: Nightmare and Comfort

 **Laughter** **was heard as four kids, all siblings, ran into a forest while their parents set up their camp. **

**_Flames and fire and smoke. It was everywhere. Filling her_** ** _lungs as she ran. She couldn't see anything, and her eyes burned._**

 ** _Yelling was heard as fire surrounded her. It licked at her skin and bit into her lungs. Burning_** ** _darkness gripped at her but was swatted away by a Cool Light. Yelling was heard overhead. The yelling was worried. Cold and heat fought._**

 ** _Neither won for a soft yet deep voice told her to sleep. It told her everything would be fine. That she would live. And she believed it._**

* * *

Nora screamed as she sat up, tears ran down her face and onto her soft blanket. Sobs rocked her body as she brought her knees up and hugged them to her chest. The sound of her room door opening caused her to hug herself even more and she started rocking herself. A slightly cold hand rested on the exposed skin on her back and began rubbing in circles. Soon Nora stopped crying and looked up to see a blurry figure of her new brother, Jaime, before looking down again.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked softly and moved to massaging Nora's' shoulders.

The 14-year-old girl looked at him and stared into his chocolate brown eyes before looking away and slightly blushed in embarrassment for getting caught crying. The girl blinked a few times and slightly fingered her necklace.

"I... My family... we... we were playing when the forest... Fire and smoke..." tears fell down her cheeks, "I couldn't breathe... almost died... I would have but... A voice said I'd survive and I did" Nora wiped the tears away and looked away from the older child, "I... I never felt more afraid in my life and the worst of it is... my... I'm alone."

The young girl sniffed and felt more tears fall, the massaging hands removed themselves for a few seconds before skinny, yet strong arms wrapped around her and pulled her into a soft chest.

"No, you're not" Jaime whispered.

* * *

{Jaime Reyes the Nora is asleep now}

Jaime nodded and continued to hug his younger foster sister as she snuggled into him, the 16-year-old smiled softly.

"Sleep well Starla."


	5. Chapter 3: First day of School

Chapter Three: First Day of School

It has been a week since Nora joined the Reyes household and she became great friends with Milagro and a shadow to Jaime. Anyways, Nora was getting her magenta backpack packed for her first day of school when Mrs. Reyes came in and told her she had 15 minutes left until they had to go. Nora gave the woman a nod and finished up packing fixing her hair into a ponytail and putting her backpack on. The 14-year-old left her room and headed downstairs where her foster siblings were talking together, and her foster mother was on the phone. Nora grabbed her black lunchbox before attaching it to her backpack.

"I know... Don't worry... We'll be there in a few... bye" Mrs. Reyes hung up and turned to Nora, "ready?"

Nora took a shaky breath before nodding, "a-as I'll ever be."

* * *

Nora followed Mrs. Reyes into Rio Grande High as Jaime went to class and looked around. The walls were a cream color, there were paintings of dragons and horses hanging on the walls. The ceiling, a deep grey with rectangular lights and the floor was a type of linoleum. The girl stared at it for 3.5 seconds before following her foster mother to the main office. She watched as Mrs. Reyes talked to a receptionist. After 3 minutes, the receptionist handed Nora her schedule and the two (Mrs. Reyes and Nora) walked out. Bianca left soon after a middle age man came over and showed Nora the way to her classes.

* * *

Once the two finished the tour, the counselor showed Nora to her first room. The teacher inside, a bulky man, turned and smiled at them, he introduced himself and told Nora to sit beside a girl with brunette hair and dark blue eyes. The counselor left afterwards, and Mr. Singh began his lesson on parabolas', which was fine for Nora because she already finished parabolas in her last school.

The 14-year-old took extra notes on the subject and murmured a quiet 'thank you' to the teacher when he passed out work sheets to everyone and she got hers. The last member of the Night family zoned everyone out as she worked on the classwork.

The brunette-haired girl looked at the paper and groaned in frustration when none of it made sense before raising her hand. Mr. Singh walked over to the struggling girl.

"Yes, Ms. McClain" the teacher asked the student.

"I don't understand this" the girl replied.

"Did you ask three people before you asked me?"

The girl let out a soft sigh and turned to the new girl, "Hey, uh... new kid?"

The girls head lifted from her hand and looked at her, "Yes?"

"Um... do you know what to do? For the Parabolas"

The girl nodded and looked over at her paper, the girl explained the steps and helped the 15-year-old through the first two problems before returning to her work.

"Gracias" Mr. McClain smiled.

"De nada" the girl murmured.

"I'm Veronica McClain" the girl, Veronica, said with a smile as she held out her hand.

The girl stared before grasping it with her right hand, "Nora Night but you can call me Starla"

* * *

2 periods later it was lunch time, Veronica led Nora to the table closest to the back and the two acquaintances sat down. Veronica took out her salmon colored lunchbox and emptied it on her spot, a tuna sandwich, a bag of carrots and a bag of Cheetos fell out. Nora followed Veronicas' example and a container with a slice of enchilada, 3 cheese sticks and an apple fell to the table. The two teens ate lunches in silence until the older girl broke it.

"So..." Veronica started, "how long have you been with the Reyes family?"

Nora tilted her head back in thought before responding, "about a week, how long have you been in El Paso?"

Veronica's happy mood turned slightly darker, and she sighed, "eleven months and 3 weeks"

Nora gave her a surprised look, "you counted?"

The girl nodded, "we left Cuba to move here because Cuba reminded us of too much Lance, my older brother, who disappeared twelve months ago."

The Hispanic girl nodded in understanding and supplied, "my biological family died two months ago"

The Cuban looked up and frowned, "why does bad things happen to good people?"

Nora shrugged, "it can't be karma, it's a perra but fair"

Veronica tilted her head confused, "perra?"

(Veronica may be Cuban, but it is hard for her to learn things and it took a few years for her to learn English **(She is not dumb just a slow learner)** )

"um... meaning of female dog but the other kind" Nora explained while glancing at a teacher who was walking around.

The girl thought about it before gasping, "OH!"

Nora laughed at her reaction, "yah, that"

Veronica followed her example and the two laughed and talked the rest of the lunch period.

* * *

The last few periods were dull and uneventful, after school Nora met up with her foster mother at the steps of the school and they walked home together.

"How was your day Starla?" Bianca asked softly.

Nora couldn't fight the smile and told the woman all about her day with excitement in her voice and eyes. Bianca watched the child with a small smile, she was happy that the young girl was finally coming out of her shell and interacting with kids other than her foster siblings. They were walking up the stairs to their house when a black cat darted out of an alley way, being chased by a rabid dog.

Nora gasped and got in front of the dog so that the cat had time to get away, Bianca gasped in horror at this and was about to pull the girl out of the way when the most shocking thing happened. Nora stood in the way and held her hand out, backed up, in the classic dog-greeting manner and it calmed. The dog turned from savage to calm and innocent. Nora pulled back and smiled when the dog started licking her.

"Now, you are not allowed to chase cats" Nora said sternly but the smile remained on her face, "do I make myself clear Muyarea?" (AN: Muy-era means cured spirit)

The dog waved its tail and gave the girl a long and slobbery kiss causing her to laugh before getting up and trotting off, Nora stood up and rejoined Mrs. Reyes at the door.

"Why did you do that?" Bianca demanded in worry, "you could have been seriously injured!"

Nora smiled as she replied, "everyone can change if shown kindness"

 **AN: in this AU Cubans and Americans are on friendly terms. I made Veronica's eyes are blue because she takes after her half-Cuban half-Texan mother**


	6. Chapter 4: Chirps and Meeting Black

Chapter four: Chirps and Meeting Black

*Three Days Later*

-Alley-

The muscular black Dragon Li tom ran toward a form in the shadows after losing the dog and mewed softly at it.

" **Anything to report** " a thick and gravelly voice questioned as red and gold eyes met.

~ _Nora Night has had her first day of school three days ago_ ~ a soft voice replied.

" **Anything else** " the muscular shadow snapped causing the cat to cower away.

~ _The Scarab Gem is with her, most likely given to her by her Biological Makers_ ~

The shadow growled as red eyes narrowed, " **find out how to take it** "

~ _Yes sir_ ~

The cat raced off and the shadowed figure disappeared completely.

* * *

-Reyes Residence-

Nora was getting ready to sleep at 12:00AM because she just finished her homework (3 pages from Biology and an essay for English) when she heard it. Soft clicking sounds emanating from the room next door.

"Jaime do you hear that sound?" Nora shouted since she was too tired to get up and leave her room

"I don't hear anything. Why?" Jaime entered her room with a confused look on his face.

The clicking sounded again. It sounded angered or annoyed, but Jaime seemed not to have heard it.

Nora sighed, "never mind, must be my tired brain playing tricks on me, G'night Jaime"

Jaime nodded though concern was in his eyes, "Noches Starla"

He left, and Nora turned on her side before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep as she listened to very soft chirping coming from her foster brothers' room.

* * *

Nora was heading home after being tutored by Shella, an annoying girl convinced of her own superior intelligence, at 7:15PM when she heard the same clicking noise from last night and froze. The teenager followed the sound into a currently empty park until she had to dodge a stray giant black staple.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Starla shrieked and looked up to see them.

Robin, the new speedster ('Impulse' she remembered the news people saying), Blue Beetle and Beast Boy were fighting a massive opponent, a real heavy hitter in all black. The weird thing was, he looked kind of like Blue.

The 14-year-old hid behind a tree and watched as the heroes got their butts handed to them. Robin got thrown into a thick oak a stapled there, Beast boy got hit on the head and crumbled to the ground unconscious, Impulse got stapled to the forest floor, leaving Blue Beetle to fight alone. The black armoured Beetle quickly overpowered the slimmer bug and pinned him to the ground.

" **Now little brother** " the beetles' monotoned voice growled, " **you will stop this non-sense and be put BACK on mode** "

The clicking start up again, this time it sounded frantic and distressed. She saw the black and grey beetle put his hand closer to Blue Beetles bug and Nora looked around frantically, wondering what she should do.

Nora picked up a sharp rock that was the size of her palm, aimed and threw.

The rock sailed through the air rapidly and crashed into the bug (not the Beetle the actual bug attached to him) on the back of its neck. It hit before the bigger Beetle placed his hand on Blue Beetles bug.

* * *

-Jaime-

The bulky bug turned, ready to kill the Nora but the blue armoured hero quickly scrambled to his feet got in front of her when Black Beetle looked at her.

{Jaime Reyes we must get her out of here}

"I know, but we can't just leave the others" Jaime whispered under his breath.

Black Beetle took a step forward but stopped when Blue Beetle pointed a plasma gun at him. The Evil Beetle took another step forward and another as Blue activated his gun.

"STARLA RUN!"

Nora did.

* * *

-Nora-

Soon she burst into the open and ran toward her neighborhood, she got to her foster family's' house and unlocked the door. Nora walked in and was immediately asked where Jaime was by Mrs. Reyes.

"I-I don't know ma'am" Nora responded in worry.

Bianca noticed this and tried to calm her by saying that Jaime was probably at his friend's house. Nora felt a little better but still worried, Bianca led the girl to the table where Mr. Reyes and Milagro sat. Milagro looked up from her drawing and smiled before waving. Bianca put food on the table and everyone served themselves.

"Hola Starla!" Milagro greeted excitedly.

'How does Blue Beetle know my name?' Nora thought before responding.

"Hello Mila'" she sat down, "How was your day?"

"IT WAS AWESOME!" Milagro screeched in excitement before calming down, "Jacob, a boy that I have, now had, a crush on, asked me out!"

Nora's worry was forgotten for the time being as her little sister blabbered on with so much energy.

'Just like Aditya' a small part of her whispered causing Nora to somber up.

"May I be excused" Nora asked causing everyone to look at her.

Bianca noticed the sad look on her face that she always got when she thought of her family and nodded, "of course."

"Gracias" Nora said before getting up and going to her room.

Nora closed the door before turning on the light, she turned and gasped to see a man with a cloth standing right there. He lunged forward and covered her mouth and nose with the weird smelling towel before she could yell for help. Nora's brain went foggy and her vision to swim. The last thing she heard was two sets of chirping. One strong and the other soft but both were frantic.


	7. Chapter 5: First Kiss

Chapter five: First Kiss

Clicking was the first thing she heard as she slowly regained consciousness. Her silver eyes slowly opened, and a small groan escaped her dry mouth. Her skull was throbbing and there was a mall pain in her side. She saw herself in a weird container with red glass and outside of it was two figures. They looked like humanoid centipedes and had weird clothing on. Nora watched as they went to the pod next to hers and clicked to each other.

'What's with the giant humanoid centipedes and what do they want?' Nora thought before her eyes widened when her brain caught up, 'Are They Aliens?! Why Are They Here?! What Do They Want?! What Are They Going To Do?!'

Her survival instincts jumped in then 'I've got to get out of here!'

What about her family?! Nora had no idea if they knew she was gone, or where she'd gone, or if they were here too!

Nora shook her head 'stop it! We're not leaving until I find out my family is safe!'

Nora's breathing picked up in pace, 'ARE THEY GOING TO PROBE US?! IS MY FAMILY OKAY?! DID THEY TAKE THEM TOO?! I-I CAN'T LOSE ANYONE ELSE! I HAVE TO GET OUT! I HAVE TO SAVE THEM!'

The creatures appeared in front of her and were saying something, but she couldn't hear them. Her vision got blurry and the container became too warm, the 14-year-old's breathing was uneven and panicked. Black spots danced around the capsule and began cramming and running into each other until they covered most of her vision. The wave of air and the feeling of arms pulling her made her panic even more.

'THEIR GOING TO PROBE ME! THEIR GOING TO FIND OUT ABOUT MY LOVED ONES AND GO AFTER THEM TO PROB THEM! I HAVE TO - I HAVE TO - I HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO STOP THEM!'

She felt herself being lowered and instantly through a punch. Her hand connected with something cool and hard causing her to gasp and cradle her injured hand to her chest.

"You shouldn't have done that Meat Bag" a familiar monotone voice spoke, and Nora snarled.

"I wouldn't have if you hadn't kidnapped me and tried to probe me!"

A growl sounded causing the girl to gulp and shrink away.

"Please don't probe me!"

"Calm down Half-Meat, we won't probe you" the familiar voice spoke in an annoyed tone.

Nora whimpered and shrunk away even more, "pro-promise?"

An annoyed sound came from the voice before a deep sigh, "I promise"

The black dots slowly disappeared, and the girl saw herself in front of what looked like a med-bed (hehe rhyme :)), a console stood off to the right and the wall was lined with dark brown pods with red glass. Nora glanced at the Centipede People; one was hot pink, and salmon colored with gold eyes and a slightly rose-colored face, the other was forest green and pale green colored with amber eyes and a slightly grey colored face.

The Beetle stood in front of her with a confused look on his face and a small tilt of his head. Now that Nora could see him up close she could tell that he had mostly shiny grey metal-like alloy, a darker grey face with grey markings around his eyes and chin. His irises were a deep scarlet surrounded by amber lenses. His neck, stomach, legs, arms and his bug were dark grey. There was a weird symbol on his chest that was vantablack. He was very muscular and tall.

"I must work on fixing the Off-Mode Scarab"

Nora's attention turned to the Centipedes.

Nora frowned and looked at the, clearly, female Centipede Person, "'Off-Mode'?"

"You do not need to know Meat" the beetle snarled, and Nora felt tears pile in her eyes at the harsh tone.

"Soldier" an unknown male voice snapped, "our guest has the right to ask"

The 14-year-old looked up at the Green Centipede and frowned, "guest? I thought you kidnapped me"

The green male looked surprised at this before shaking his head, "no of course we didn't, we rescued you from your kidnappers and brought you here to heal you"

Nora nodded, that made sense to her after all the one who kidnapped her was human.

"As for you question, one of our Scarabs, the Blue Scarab belonging to the Blue Beetle is Off-Mode" The female said catching Nora's attention, "Off-Mode is when the Scarab is sick, and we have to take it out of its current host body to fix it, The host will be fine unless if we put the Scarab back, so we have to give the Scarab to another host body and the previous host body lives a normal life again."

Nora frowned, "so Blue is sick and the only way to save him is to fix the Scarab and give it to someone else?"

The female Centipede nodded.

"Do you have someone to take the Scarab?"

The Pink Centipede shook her head, "not of yet but-"

"Is it alright if I take the Scarab than?" Nora interrupted.

The three other creatures in the room looked surprised.

"Why would you want such a burden?" The Beetle questioned with narrowed eyes.

The girl tilted her head, "I wanna help people, and since the Scarab needs a host and you don't have anyone yet I volunteered"

The woman nodded, "both valid reasons, I'll see that it can be done"

Nora stared at them with confused eyes when something occurred, "um... how come I can understand you?"

The two Centipedes froze as if they had just realized and stared at her, the female walked over to Nora after grabbing a square looking thing. Nora narrowed her silver and blue eyes and flinched away from it as the female tried to put it near her head.

"What is that" Nora demanded with a glare

"It is a medical scanner" the male explained as he walked forward, "it will tell us how you can understand us"

Nora eyed it wearily before nodding her consent to proceed.

* * *

Black Beetle watched as the girl let the Reach Ambassador and Scientist scan her in confusion as the Scarab wrote down notes.

{"Subject: Human Female Identified as 'Nora'. Notes: Unusually compliant. Possibly the human Defense Mechanism known as 'Stockholm Syndrome'. Subject experiences phenomena known as 'Panic Attack' while in pod. Possible Reason: Claustrophobia"}

The muscular Beetle continued to watch as the girl looked over the Scientists shoulder to see the results.

* * *

"What do the results say?" Nora asked desperately, "I'm not infected with some weird alien virus, am I?"

The female chuckled, "no child, the scans say that your brain is just wired differently, and you pick up our language, perhaps it's a Meta-Gene"

Nora sighed in relief and physically and emotionally relaxed, she decided not to ask what a 'Meta-Gene' was, 'probably a science thing'

A thought came to her a few seconds later, "do you guys have names, because it feels rude to call you 'Orchid' and 'Acid' instead of your actual names? Also, what species are you?"

"Us Reach call each other by our rank, I am Ambassador, and this is Scientist. We are the Reach, what you earthling's call an 'alien'. We've sent this vessel you're on to study and help your planet, as well as other planets across the universe"

Nora nodded, "soo Mode, is it good?"

The Ambassador nodded, "it is very good"

Nora nodded and sat down on the table and started softly kicking her legs around as the Scientist left to get the things ready to remove the Scarab and fix it. Ambassador told 'Soldier' to watch her as he checked in with his planet. The two stayed silent for a while, 'Soldier' glaring at Nora as Nora examined the room from where she sat. After a few minutes Nora broke the silence.

"Your Scarabs pretty"

The male startled at this and looked at her surprised before regaining his composer and looking away, "whatever"

The girl stared at him and frowned, "what's your birth name?"

'Soldier' turned and glared in annoyance, "Soldier"

"Nuh-hu, that is a rank" the girl said shaking her head, "not a name"

"Why do you care?"

"I like to know everyone's names" Nora explained before gasping, "You Do Have A Name Don't You?!"

The Beetle huffed, "yes Half-Meat, I have a name"

"Welll, what is it?" Nora urged him to tell her.

"That is for me to know and you to never find out"

Nora huffed this time and crossed her hands over her chest, "party pooper"

"I do not 'poop' on parties"

Nora snorted before laughing at the image, "OMI-GOD! No, 'Party pooper' is when someone throws gloom over excitement"

Beetle rolled his eyes, "whatever Half-Meat"

Nora stopped laughing and started singing: **Hello Darkness, My Old Friend**

 _Hello darkness, my old friend_  
 _I've come to talk with you again_  
 _Because a vision softly creeping_  
 _Left its seeds while I was sleeping_  
 _And the vision that was planted in my brain_  
 _Still remains_  
 _Within the sound of silence_

The male glared at her, but she ignored him and let her eyes slip closed.

 _In restless dreams I walked alone_  
 _Narrow streets of cobblestone_  
 _'Neath the halo of a street lamp_  
 _I turned my collar to the cold and damp_  
 _When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light_  
 _That split the night_  
 _And touched the sound of silence_

'Soldier' stopped glaring and started listening as he watched Nora's body sway with an unheard rhythm.

 _And in the naked light I saw_  
 _Ten thousand people, maybe more_  
 _People talking without speaking_  
 _People hearing without listening_  
 _People writing songs that voices never share_  
 _And no one dared_  
 _Disturb the sound of silence_

He sat down next to her and watched as some liquid fell from her shut eyes. The Beetle brushed the liquid away gently and Nora opened her silver and thunderstorm blue eyes to stare into his red and amber eyes as she sang the last part.

 _And the people bowed and prayed_  
 _To the neon god they made_  
 _And the sign flashed out its warning_  
 _In the words that it was forming_  
 _And the sign said, the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls_  
 _And tenement halls_  
 _And whispered in the sounds of silence_

Nora held the last word slightly longer than the others before smiling at the Beetle who was closer than ever before. The two stared and swam in each other's eyes, they would have kept swimming if the flash of lights and the sound of alarms hadn't brought them back to the present. The two jerked away from each other and 'Soldier' stood up before walking stoically to the door.

"Stay here Half-Meat" he said before leaving, the door slid shut behind him.

Nora continued to stare at where he had disappeared and slowly touched her hand to her mouth. She was certain that something soft and warm had brushed against her lips right before the alarm had rung.

* * *

Black Beetle leaned heavily against the door when it closed, his Off-Mode part had almost taken control. With a deep breath, he composed himself and began marching toward where he saw the body signatures of the intruders. Two were heading toward the Command Center as one headed to the Scarab Removal Room. Black knew that there was extra security protecting the SRR, so he headed to the Command Center.

* * *

Jaime screamed as electricity coursed through him and was relieved when it had ended. The boy momentarily passed out. When he awoke, he found Impulse dragging him out of the room.

"Ba-Bart?" Jaime gasped out.

Impulse looked down at him and smiled sadly, "hey Blue"

The two stared at each other with small smiles.

{Jaime Reyes stop staring at the Impulse and get Nora Night out of here}

The 16-year-old gasped and looked around, "Where Is She?!"

Impulse rearranged his grip on Jaime before asking, "who?"

"Nora, My Foster Sister!" Jaime glanced around the room again, "Where Is She Bart?!"


	8. Chapter 6: Choosing

**Chapter six: Choosing**

As Nora waited for Mr. Party-Pooper to return, she thought up different scenarios of what could have happened if the Reach hadn't saved her from her kidnapper. They were all terrible.

She snapped out of the latest one when the room door opened, she was expecting Soldier, not Impulse and a shaky Blue Beetle.

"OMI-GAWD!" she gasped in worry as she raced over, "what happened?"

"Nora" Blue breath in relief while Impulse studied her.

"Yeah" she confirmed, "but what are you doing here?"

"We came to rescue you" Blue stated causing the girl more confusion.

"I don't need to be rescued" she stated, worried about his health.

"Of course not" Impulse smiled kindly, "but Ambassador wants the Young Justice team to protect you and some others while they look for the ones who are kidnapping people"

Blue shot his partner a confused look before returning his attention to his sister.

"Oh okay" Nora nodded as if it made any sense.

The two led her out of the room and to the Bio-ship. When they got there, they saw Beast Boy and Miss Martian trying to get through a closed door. Blue Beetle placed his hand on the wall and the door slid apart, revealing downed heroes and Black Beetle standing in the middle of it all.

Nora stared at the scene in shock.

Blue stumbled into the room, gaining Soldiers attention, allowing the others to race to the ship, Impulse dragging Nora.

Nora was struggling against his grip only to stop when Black spoke.

"It's time to put you _back_ On Mode"

Nora turned and paled at the look he had in his eyes; it was the same look an insane killer had.

She closed her eyes, bowed her head and willingly followed the hero into the ship, leaving Soldier behind to fight Blue.


	9. Chapter 7: Therapy

**Chapter Seven: Therapy**

Nora sat next to Tye as she waited her turn with the Justice League therapist. Blue Beetle and his Impulse friend sat on the opposite side with a giant fish and a green boy. A Japanese girl named Asami, was being therapied right now.

"Arigatō Asami" Black Canary said as she opened the door, "Nora?"

Nora stood and walked into the room after her.

"Please, have a seat" the therapist smiled when Nora did, "would you like to talk about your experiences?"

Nora fumbled with her necklace, her eyes kept glancing around, trying to find the where soft chirping was coming from.

"Nora?"

She looked at the therapist before sighing and looking down.

"I don't know what to say, they seemed so kind" she fell silent, trying to figure out how to voice her words.

"What do you mean?"

"They didn't have me in a box-tube thing, or at least they didn't keep me in one. I'm a bit claustrophobic and I believed my family was in danger so I fell into a panic attack. They took me out and I swung at one of them. Their skin was hard, like metal. I looked up and saw someone who looked like Blue Beetle but different metal color. He was... snappy, but the others they were kinder. The pink one, Scientist she said her name was, said that Blue Beetles Scarab was Off Mode, or sick in their terms. The green one, his rank is Ambassador, he said someone kidnapped me and they saved me; I don't think I believe them anymore."

"And the other Beetle?"

Nora smiled and tilted her head back as she remembered him, then she frowned "I met him before, before the Reach ship, before the battle in the forest. I just don't know where or when."

"So, if they were so kind, why did you come back with the others?"

Nora shrugged, "the heroes were well known, the Reach were not. And the other Beetle didn't sound like someone you trust, plus... they were too kind"

Black Canary nodded, understanding in her eyes.

"Can I call my family, to tell them I'm alright?" Starla asked softly.

Black Canary smiled kindly and said she could before handing her a phone. Nora thanked her and dialed the House phone.

:Hello?:

"Hey, Mila'"

:Starla? What's going on? Where are you?:

"I'm at the Hall of Justice I think, Miss Black Canary allowed me to call and say I'm fine. I don't know if I'm allowed to go home yet though"

:Nora, it's Bianca, what happened? Why are you at the Hall of Justice?:

"The heroes brought me here after saving us from the Reach. I woke up on the Reach ship" Nora said softly, making sure to sum it up and make it sound causal so that she doesn't worry her new family even more.

:And you're alright now?:

"Yes mama"

:Did you see Jaime?:

Nora stiffened, "you mean he's not with you?"

Silence filled the other end before Bianca spoke again.

:I'm sure he's with Tye:

Nora shook her head, "no mama, Tye is here, at the Hall"

More silence and Nora grew even more worried, she turned to Black Canary, "are you sure they got everyone out?"

The woman nodded.

:Perhaps he's at Bart's house, he goes there sometimes:

Nora could hear the doubt in her mother's voice but she decided not to point it out.

"Yeah, probably. I have to go mom, see you guys when I get back"

:Bye sweetheart, stay safe:

"I will, bye"

Nora hung up and handed the phone back, "thank you"

Black Canary took it and nodded in a 'you're welcome' sign.

Nora was released back to the others and Blue Beetle was called in.

She reclaimed her seat and Tye brought her into a hug.

"Jaime's not at home, I think something happened to him. My parents don't know where he is"

Tye stiffened at the news before giving a small nod, "I'm sure they'll find him"

The chirping returned.

"I hope you're right"

* * *

Arigatō Asami: Thank you Asami


End file.
